Republicans step up attacks on Kamala Harris

Such attacks on Harris – the first female and first Black vice president, as well as the first of Indian descent – are nothing new. But Republicans have focused more on her as Democrats have considered whether she should replace Biden at the top of the party ticket. This provides a glimpse into the kind of attacks Harris would face if she were the Democratic nominee.

Sebastian Gorka, a former adviser to Donald Trump, recently referred to the vice president as “colored” and a “DEI worker.” The former president’s campaign referred to Harris on social media as “low-IQ Kamala.” Some of the former president’s supporters have worn shirts, signs or bumper stickers reading “Joe And The Hoe Gotta Go” for years.

Before becoming vice president in 2021, Harris had a long career in public service: she was elected attorney general of California in 2010 and served as a U.S. senator from that state from 2017. During her time on the Senate Judiciary Committee, she earned a reputation for her scathing interrogations of Trump administration officials.

The recent attacks, which Democrats and some Republicans say could alienate voters, have largely come from the far right. Some conservatives have used the phrase “DEI hiring” pejoratively when talking about Black and brown people, referring to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts they say are being pushed by progressives and Democrats. It’s an attack several have directed at Harris in recent days.

“She’s a DEI employee, right? She’s a woman. She’s of color, so she’s got to be good,” Gorka said during a segment on conservative news channel Newsmax, responding to a question about whether donors believed Harris would do better than Biden in swing states like Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas used similar language in a Fox Business segment last Monday, saying Democrats must “choose between a mentally incompetent president and a DEI (decision inclusion) vice president.”

Asked about later criticism of his comments, Roy referred to comments Biden made in 2019 that he would prefer a woman or a person of color as his vice presidential candidate. Biden “literally made it clear that he’s picking a woman/minority… which is different than saying he’s picking the best regardless of gender or race,” Roy told the Wall Street Journal via text message.

A recent New York Post column by commentator Charlie Gasparino was heavily criticized for declaring, “America may soon have the country’s first DEI president.” The paper’s editorial board reiterated that characterization in its own opinion column published Wednesday.

“In the context of what Harris has accomplished as vice president, that’s fair rhetoric,” Gasparino said when asked about the column.

A spokesman for the New York Post did not respond to a request for comment. Both the Post and the Wall Street Journal are owned by News Corp.

“When you’re attacked, it means you’re important and you’re scaring somebody,” California Rep. Ro Khanna said of the increased Republican attention on Harris. “I think that’s inevitable, but it’s also one of the reasons we should be cautious about just putting up somebody new in the current media landscape. That’s a risk, and that’s why I think the president is clearly running again.”

Biden, 81, has insisted he will stay in the race. Harris, 59, has been one of his most vigorous defenders in public and private since Biden’s hesitant debate performance in late June. Harris has said she is committed to being Biden’s running mate.

“I find it disgusting, I find it disturbing and it’s not OK,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in early July when asked how Trump and Republicans had escalated their criticism of Harris.

It appears that the majority of racial or gender-based attacks against Harris have come from people not directly involved or affiliated with Trump or his team. Nevertheless, the former president and his campaign have increased their focus on Harris while occasionally hurling personal insults her way.

At a rally at one of his Florida golf clubs on Tuesday, Trump attacked Harris, suggesting that Democrats would have thrown Biden out of office years ago if he had picked “someone even halfway competent” as his vice president. In public, he repeatedly mispronounced Harris’ first name as Cuh-MAH-la, although a recently leaked video of Trump on his golf cart shows the former president correctly pronouncing it as Comma-la.

Some Democrats said Trump’s mispronunciation of Harris’ name – whether intentional or not – made the vice president sound even more foreign – or was at least a sign of disrespect.

In the past, Trump has highlighted former President Barack Obama’s full name while emphasizing his middle name, Hussein. Trump has promoted conspiracy theories that the nation’s first black president was not born in the United States.

“I think we all knew a bully at school who did that to a kid who wasn’t named Timmy-Julie-Emily,” said Jess McIntosh, a Democratic strategist and former communications adviser to Hillary Clinton. “Republicans are attacking Harris with these tired racist stereotypes because they really have no idea how to take on a woman who is smarter and tougher than their wannabe strongman Trump.”

The former president also referred to a Republican opponent in the primary, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, by her first name Nimarata. He has reinforced doubts about Haley’s suitability to run for president despite being born in the United States and being an American citizen, and nicknamed her “Peeping Tom.”

Caroline Sunshine, a spokeswoman for the Trump campaign, did not directly address why the former president mispronounced Harris’ name or his criticism of the tone of the attacks on the vice president. “No one has lied more about Joe Biden’s cognitive decline and supported his disastrous policies over the past four years than giggling co-pilot Kamala Harris,” she said.

Trump recently referred to Harris as his “potential new Democratic challenger” in a post on Truth Social, mentioning her run for president and her dating history.

“She did poorly in the Democratic nomination process, starting out as a number two candidate and losing before she even reached Iowa. But that doesn’t mean she isn’t a ‘highly talented’ politician!” Trump wrote. “Just ask her mentor, the great Willie Brown of San Francisco.”

Harris dated the former mayor of San Francisco in the 1990s. Harris’ supporters argue that criticism of their relationship is sexist.

Brian Fallon, a spokesman for Harris, said in a statement: “Trump and his friends are lying about the Vice President because she has brought charges against him on the most important issues of this campaign. His swipes will only further alienate key voters he needs to win.”

Alex Conant, a Republican strategist, said Trump’s attacks have always been intensely personal and have frequently crossed lines. “He says things that no other politician can get away with,” he said, but added that some of the attacks are risky considering how close the election could be. “The final decision will be made by suburban women – the very voters most likely to be turned off by sexist attacks and name-calling,” he said.

While a recent Wall Street Journal poll did not examine whether other Democrats would pose a greater challenge to Trump than Biden has so far, it found that Harris’ approval ratings were roughly in line with views of Biden. In the poll, conducted after the Biden-Trump debate, about 35 percent viewed Harris favorably and 58 percent viewed her unfavorably.

The question of whether Biden should continue his campaign – and how Harris would fare against Trump if the president dropped out of the race – was inescapable last week at the annual Netroots Nation conference, an annual gathering of progressive politicians in Baltimore.

Wadia Gardiner, a volunteer for anti-poverty programs in Philadelphia who attended the conference, expressed concern that Republicans would succeed in appealing to a portion of voters who were uncomfortable with the idea of ​​a woman of color as president.

“What these people are doing is nothing new. Look in your history books,” Gardiner said, adding that Harris had not been given enough opportunity by the Biden administration to distinguish herself. “She was a prosecutor for the state of California. She is not an alibi.”

Natalie Andrews contributed to this article.

Write to Sabrina Siddiqui at [email protected]